Duan Rong quickly reached out to catch it.
Duan Rong looked at the small Black Porcelain Bottle in his hand, his gaze intently focused.
Shang Xiangyu said, "There are a total of ten pills in this bottle, consume one every month, and it will greatly benefit your cultivation!"
Duan Rong looked at the porcelain bottle in his hand, feigning joy, but inwardly he was enduring great distress.
Yin Cong had previously informed him that only Pan Yong could obtain the medicine pill from Shang Xiangyu, and just now when Shang Xiangyu wanted to kill them, Pan Yong was the only one unscathed.
Therefore, the elixir in the Black Porcelain Bottle became increasingly obvious.
This elixir was clearly some kind of sinister substance capable of controlling people.
Moreover, it is likely an extremely difficult substance to refine; otherwise, Shang Xiangyu wouldn’t be controlling only Pan Yong.
Just now, after weighing the situation, he decided to keep me.
If his quota for controlling people always remains limited to one person.
Then, keeping me, does that imply he intends to kill Pan Yong?
Just as Duan Rong was deep in thought, Shang Xiangyu suddenly commanded coldly, "Take one!"
"Now?" Duan Rong was momentarily stunned.
Shang Xiangyu merely looked at him with a cold expression, without speaking.
Duan Rong hesitated only briefly before opening the porcelain bottle and carefully pouring out a small black medicine pill, no larger than a fingernail, rough in texture, and somewhat irregular in shape.
Duan Rong swallowed the pill.
Shang Xiangyu watched Duan Rong, observing his throat move as though he had swallowed it.
Suddenly, Shang Xiangyu’s figure blurred, and Duan Rong felt a flash before his eyes as Shang Xiangyu stood ghost-like beside him.
Shang Xiangyu abruptly raised his hand, forcefully gripping Duan Rong’s chin, turning towards the firelight.
Duan Rong’s mouth was wide open as Shang Xiangyu peered inside by the firelight.
"Raise your tongue."
Following the command, Duan Rong complied, and Shang Xiangyu released his grip, saying, "Consume one pill every thirty days. Eating none or too many means death!"
Duan Rong’s face turned ashen, but he cautiously put the porcelain bottle into his inner pocket.
Not eating means death! Ten pills, at least he could live another ten months. He wondered whether this pill was some toxin or something else?
Perhaps within ten months, he could find a way to free himself from its control.
Shang Xiangyu glanced sideways at the pill furnace not far away, now mostly cooled down. He turned to Pan Yong and said, "Go and retrieve the Blood Pills from the furnace."
Upon hearing this, Pan Yong approached and said to Duan Rong, "Junior Brother Duan Rong, come over and lend a hand."
Duan Rong followed Pan Yong, stepping over Yin Cong’s corpse, arriving at the pill furnace.
With practiced hands, Pan Yong operated the spring mechanism of the furnace’s second layer, and the two of them together lifted it down.
As the furnace was lifted, a rich fragrance mixed with a bizarre bloody smell rushed forth.
The aroma even made Duan Rong feel a momentary sense of intoxication.
The two stood by the furnace, peering inside, where thirty or so wispy threads of faint light wove across the dark furnace bottom.
Pan Yong suddenly took out a long spoon, scooping each shimmering light strand from the bottom.
Duan Rong meanwhile held a white porcelain bottle and a small wooden spoon.
As Pan Yong extracted each, Duan Rong used the wooden spoon to transfer it into the porcelain bottle in his hand.
The pill shimmered with subtle light in the furnace, but upon exiting, its radiance faded.
Duan Rong focused his gaze, seeing the pill’s smooth surface, entirely crimson.
"Blood Pill?!"
Throughout the process of retrieving the pills, Shang Xiangyu watched from the side. Thirty-six pills in total were stored in two porcelain bottles.